Prior to the beginning of the 2015 season – and just after the New York Mets announced that Zack Wheeler would miss the entire year because he needed Tommy John surgery – this writer wrote that Matt Harvey would need to be at his best if the Mets had any chance of making the postseason.

Well, as it turns out, what was written has not been entirely accurate.

Harvey has been very good so far in 2015, albeit not as good as his 2013 campaign, but for a while he was the third-best pitcher in his own rotation behind Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard.

His really tough stretch occurred in late May and ran through the beginning of June. Over a span of four starts, he gave up seven runs on two separate occasions and four on another. His ERA peaked at 3.62 after he allowed seven earned runs in six innings against the San Francisco Giants, and it was obvious that Harvey did not have the terrific control that he had back in 2013. That was the same season he started the All-Star Game and finished fourth in the Cy Young voting even though his season was shortened due to a partial UCL tear in his pitching elbow.

But since then, the 26-year-old right-hander from North Carolina has been a completely different pitcher. Harvey has pitched at least six innings and given up two runs or fewer in nine of the 10 starts since that poor outing against the Giants.

The past two games?  15 innings.  Six hits.  No runs.

He has been in control, efficient and overpowering in both of those outings. Harvey has kept his pitch count down – he hasn’t surpassed the century mark in pitches in either game – by attacking hitters more than ever.

Harvey has always possessed an incredible bulldog approach on the mound, but he is taking it to a whole new level of late. He has used his fastball more in August than he has in any other month this year, according to Brooks Baseball, and it is working superbly. He is pitching to contact, letting opposing hitters put the ball in play, and allowing his defense to work.

What makes it even more impressive, he has done all this despite having the most serious arm surgery done on his throwing elbow less than two years ago.

“Just finding that certain starts are a little bit easier to get going than others is what I’ve been noticing from the recovery [from Tommy John surgery],” Harvey told Adam Rubin of ESPN.com after he shut down the Miami Marlins for seven innings back on August 5th.

“Instead of going away from mechanics, I think I’ve done a good job of staying with it. I think that’s something [pitching coach Dan Warthen] and I really worked on -- the starts that you don’t start feeling well, that you really stay focused and throughout the game it will come back.”

Harvey might continue having to overcome obstacles related to his arm. He will not be overused by manager Terry Collins. But either way, the past 10 Harvey starts have been absolutely electric. 

He might still be building his durability back to the level that it was in 2013. However, his average fastball velocity is actually faster this year than it was then, per FanGraphs.

When he was struggling with his command, Harvey was having a hard time piecing together quality outings. Now, though, he says he has made tremendous improvement in that regard.

“The last couple of outings have been a huge improvement [for my command],” Harvey told Dan Martin of the New York Post after he struck out nine in 7.2 innings against the Washington Nationals in his last start of July. “Being able to throw the slider and locate my fastball a little better has been a huge difference.”

Location, location, location.

That is the key for Harvey if he wants to keep up this terrific pace. He must be able to control the fastball and get ahead of hitters. If that happens, it could get really scary for the rest of the league.